Related Events

Where is it?

The horror - and the pleasure - of a body infected and transformed by technology are at the core of this thumping cyberpunk nightmare, a key reference for the anime that followed.

A man known to us only as 'the Metal Fetishist', who is seen sticking a piece of metal into his leg, is run over by 'the Salaryman'. The next morning, as he shaves, Salaryman discovers a metal spike growing out of his cheek: it's the start of a shocking mutation that sees him transform, gradually, into a walking, hulking pile of scrap metal.

Released a year after Akira, and sharing many of the same concerns, Tetsuo is considered a founding text of Japanese cyberpunk. To discuss its influence, and to unpack the wider themes of this season, curator Helen McCarthy is joined on-stage before the screening by a panel of experts: Jasper Sharp, Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere and Rayna Denison.